LANSING, Mich.-Chrysler has again suspended its participation in Invest in America's Affiliate Rewards Program, meaning that credit union members will no longer be eligible for special discounts on Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep vehicles.
Invest in America VP Kim Irwin said that the program would be temporarily suspended "pending fast-track discussion with Chrysler senior management in April."
"This is not a reflection of Chrysler's perception of value of the IIA program," she told participating credit unions in an e-mail. "Rather, it has to do with executive management's management of all incentive programs with direction from the federal government." The federal government continues to hold a large stake in Chrysler after providing funding.
Chrysler spokesperson Kathy Graham said that credit unions are a "great partner," and explained that its involvement in the Invest in America program was scheduled to run through the end of March. While there were talks to extend that timeline to the end of the year, nothing firm came of those discussions, Graham said.
"We haven't ruled out rejoining, but the program ran its course and we had other things planned for this quarter," she said. Chrysler made the decision when it realized it would not be able to pursue other incentive activities this fiscal quarter if it continued to offer the CU-related discounts. The auto manufacturer will now turn to more product-related programs to generate sales. "It was better to do truck month and minivan month at this point in time," said Graham.
Invest in America has helped sell 103,000 Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram Truck vehicles since its inception, generating over 101,000 loans worth upwards of $2 billion and saving members in excess of $77 million. The auto manufacturer previously suspended the rewards program during the "Cash For Clunkers" government initiative last year, but later re-established the discounts. Kim told participating CUs that she is hopeful that the program will be back on track soon and confident that Invest in America will boost Chrysler sales once again.
"The auto industry continues to be in a very difficult economic and competitive environment and as such, these programs bring great opportunity for credit unions but they also come with the need for patience as we help Chrysler address the financial challenges associated with the environment they operate in," she said.
